Recalled Wood fires England to St Lucia lead

Mark Wood shone on his international return with a first five-wicket Test haul as England removed West Indies for 154 before building up a 142-run lead at stumps.

With England having already lost the three-match series, Wood was recalled for his first Test appearance since May 2018 and made up for lost time with a devastating spell that included a pair of wickets in his first over.

Joe Root's team had earlier slumped to 277 all out - having started the day 231-4 - but Wood and Moeen Ali (4-36) tore through the Windies and earned England a 123-run first-innings lead.

Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings then saw England to the close with their 10 wickets intact as the tourists enjoyed a rare position of dominance on the second day.

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes had both made half-centuries on Saturday but the former failed to add to his overnight 67 when bowled by Shannon Gabriel.

Stokes moved on to 79 - his best Test score since he was involved in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that resulted in a suspension - but when his mistimed hook off Kemar Roach was brilliantly taken by a diving Shane Dowrich, England unravelled.

They would add just 21 runs for the loss of their final five wickets, Roach accounting for Jonny Bairstow, Wood and James Anderson to finish with 4-48, while Moeen gave Alzarri Joseph his second wicket.

West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell had made 50 partnerships in three of their previous four innings in the series - with the other alliance unbroken at 17 in reaching a victory target - and once again they made a solid start.

Anderson eventually played a part in the first wicket, though as the fielder, flying around from cow corner after Brathwaite (12) had launched Moeen into the air.

Campbell (41) was pinned in front next ball and West Indies soon went from 57 without loss to 59-4, with Wood having an immediate impact.

His opening deliveries, some of which reached 90 miles per hour, troubled Shai Hope and so it was no surprise to see him slice to Burns at gully, the same fielder then hanging to another chance to send Roston Chase back for a golden duck.

Wood's extra pace was proving too much and he found Shimron Hetmyer's outside edge before tea, Root holding on at the second attempt at first slip.

Durham seamer Wood then had four wickets for the first time in a Test with his seventh ball of the third session, Darren Bravo picking out Root again in the cordon.

Keemo Paul (9) and Dowrich (38) managed to take the hosts into three figures, though the former would perish when stumped off Moeen.

Dowrich eventually fell lbw to Stuart Broad, who then took a brilliant one-handed catch from over his head after Joseph launched Moeen into the sky.

That left both Moeen and Wood on four wickets each, and it was the latter who would finish with five as he rattled Gabriel's stumps.

Burns (10) and Jennings (8) then negotiated the final 10 overs of the day without much drama - though the former almost edged to first slip in the final over - to raise hopes of a consolation victory for England.

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Wales head coach Warren Gatland thinks the enormity of a crucial Six Nations clash in Cardiff on Saturday could be challenging for the temperament of England's "time-bomb" Kyle Sinckler.

Prop Sinckler had an altercation with Peter O'Mahony in the win over Ireland and was reminded to adhere to "rugby values" by referee Nigel Owens following a clash with France's Arthur Iturria at Twickenham.

Gatland, who selected Sinckler for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017, would not be surprised to see Sinckler sailing close to the wind again in the heat of the battle at the Principality Stadium.

"There is a challenge sometimes with his temperament. He's aware of it. Other players are aware of it. We've already seen in the Six Nations that he has been involved in a couple of incidents," said the New Zealander.

"Hopefully, we don't get dragged into that on Saturday. Emotionally, he can be a bit of a time-bomb. I am not saying anything that people aren't aware of.

"Look, we won't be going out there trying to antagonise him, because that's not in our make-up. We will just go out there and play.

"Hopefully, he goes out and has a good game and is able to keep his emotions in control, because that's a big challenge for him."

Eddie Jones will not try and dissuade Manu Tuilagi from turning his back on England by making a lucrative move to Racing 92.

Tuilagi has reportedly held talks over a move to Paris when his Leicester Tigers contract expires at the end of the season.

The 27-year-old has forced his way into the England starting line-up after putting his injury woes behind him to make a long-awaited comeback last year, but a switch to the Top 14 would effectively make him unavailable for Test rugby.

England head coach Jones says only Tuilagi can decide what his future holds.

"We just have fun about it. [We] give him baguettes, croissants, wear berets. Good fun." the Australian said ahead of England's crunch Six Nations clash with Wales on Saturday.

"As long as he doesn't get on the Eurostar between now and Saturday I've got no comment on it because all I'm worried about is Saturday.

"I don't decide what he does for his family. Every player has a family situation they have got to look after and I want them to look after their families.

"He is in our family at the moment and we want him to play well for us - that is our only concern right now. He's got to make a decision and what decision he makes will be up to him. He's a massively important part of our team. The guys like playing with him, they love him.

"He loves playing with the team and that is his only concern at the moment."

England's trip to Wales looks primed to be a pivotal clash in the outcome of this year's Six Nations and the mind games started early.

Eddie Jones described Warren Gatland's outfit as "the greatest Welsh team ever", although the Wales coach was quick to reject that claim.

Jones is likely to be trying to deflect pressure and attention away from his side after England installed themselves as tournament favourites with a victory in Ireland followed by a dominant home success against France.

Wales are the other side with a 100 per cent record in this year's competition, but Scotland and Ireland are still in with a shot at claiming the title and will have a keen eye on events in Cardiff.

With the help of Opta, we take a statistical look at the third round of matches.

France v Scotland

A chastening 44-8 loss at Twickenham left France reeling and a showdown with Scotland no longer provides the historical comfort it once might have.

France won 15 of their first 16 Six Nations matches against Scotland but have lost two of the previous three.

Greig Laidlaw will have a personal milestone on his radar, requiring just two points to overtake Gavin Hastings (667) as Scotland’s second top points scorer behind Chris Paterson (809).

Wales v England

Everything points to a nail-biting clash in the Welsh capital on Saturday, despite England's relative dominance of this fixture.

Each of the last five meetings between the two in the Six Nations have been won by England, but the most recent four of those triumphs have been by a margin smaller than that of a converted try.

Wales will have their sights set on a slice of history, knowing that beating England would make it a national record 12 wins in a row.

Italy v Ireland

Italy have come away from their first two games empty handed and the omens against reigning champions Ireland do not bode well.

Ireland have won 18 of their 19 Six Nations games versus Italy, who themselves have been beaten in 33 of their last 34 fixtures with tier-one opponents.

There is one thing going in the hosts' favour, though, as their last win at the Stadio Olimpico in the Six Nations came in 2013 against Ireland.